As many of you know we’re in Bangkok to have our first baby. We’ve been getting some questions from people who have been watching the news and know that there is some political unrest here and some ongoing demonstrations and violence between the demonstrator and the military/police.
We wanted to take the opportunity to let everyone know that the violence has only affected us by limiting which parts of the city we can go to easily and making transportation a little more challenging as the sky train and the subway here have been closed down.
We’re following the news and keeping track of where the violent clashes are and which streets are closed. The only real concern we have is that traffic will be complicated when Jessica goes into labor and we need to get to the hospital. The hospital is not in the central shopping district (where the demonstrators’ camp is), but it is along a main street of the city.
This a skytrain station empty at 4 p.m.! A rare sight indeed. They closed the trains early on Friday and we managed to catch the last train out of downtown toward the area where we're staying.
The situation IS affecting the lives of many Thai people. I don’t understand the issues or the reality of the situation enough to make a judgment of which side is right or wrong, but I do know that there are thousands of people from other parts of Thailand who have been camped in the middle of downtown since April and many of them are willing to risk injury and death for their cause.
One of the ways we’re following the situation is on bangkokpost.com Check it out if you want more complete and updated info.
We had planned on renting a studio in the Din Daeng neighborhood, but changed our minds due to its location being in and area that it seemed could be more easily cut off from the hospital by the demonstrations. It turns out that was a good call as that area is now getting closed off.
Our plan B was to accept an invitation from Stuart and Debbie Hake to stay in their home. Debbie teaches at a nearby international school. School has been canceled for tomorrow. It’s the closest thing they have to a snowday, but instead of snow coming down, there is smoke of burning tires going up.
Even with the craziness the Hakes have been great hosts. Stuart even took me to Chinatown today. Again, we are doing great and thoroughly enjoying the time we’re spending with our hosts!
